Heaven Knows
by castiel-lord-of-the-bees
Summary: The one where Castiel is the not-so-innocent Catholic schoolboy and best friend of the boy behind a shooting at St. Michael's Catholic High School and Dean is the closeted genius and hunter of the supernatural, who believes that there may be a bit more to the shooting than an angry victim of bullying.
1. The Aftermath

**Chapter One – If You're Still Breathing**

_When a shooting causes the permanent shutdown of St. Michael's Catholic High School by the archdiocese, students are forced to transfer to the nearest public school, Lawrence High._

_Or_

_The one where Castiel is the not-so-innocent Catholic schoolboy and best friend of the shooter and Dean is the closeted nerd and hunter of the supernatural, who believes that there may be a bit more to the shooting than an angry victim of bullying._

_Screams, people rushing passed him to get away- to get anywhere but that hallway. A younger brunette girl falls to the ground facing him, clutching her stomach, hands quickly stained with dark blood, her eyes widening in shock and she makes a small noise, like she's attempting to speak. Oh god, he's frozen on the spot, can't move, can barely even breath. This girl is dying and he can't even pull himself together. _

_ Her eyes grow wide and she now seems to be fighting to get even a word out, her lungs, when she coughs sound like they're full of liquid. Blood. She's drowning in her own blood. The girl is going to die and it will be all his fault. All his damn fault. She coughs, once, twice more and takes one last gulp of air before she stills. She lays in the middle of the hall, her petite body surrounded in a pool of maroon. _

_ Her unseeing eyes stare in his direction, the last place she had looked before it was all over, and her eyes, despite their lifelessness, seem to ask him, 'Why? Why did you just stand there?'. He should have done something. He was right there, standing not ten feet away from her with a fully-charged cellphone tucked in his pocket, completely capable of helping her in some way, or at least trying. He didn't though. Why didn't he? Why did he just stand there like a useless statue. He let her die. Hell, he might as well have pulled the trigger himself. It was his fault._

_ His mind screamed at him, so loud he can't hear the sound of feet pounding on the ground, heading his way. He feels a hand rest on his shoulder, and a voice, though it sounds far far away asks him if he's okay. His throat feels like it's caving in, an avalanche waiting to happen. He can't bring himself to speak, but shakes his head, the voice in his head getting louder still. ' .ALLYOURFAULT'._

Castiel jolted awake to the sound of his alarm, looking around his bedroom, breathing heavily, sweat causing his messy hair to stick to his forehead. The sun was shining in from the space between his curtains, telling him that it was, in fact, morning this time. He placed his head in his hands, trying to will his heartbeat to just slow down, just please slow down, and trying to force air into his lungs.

Three weeks had passed since that tragedy and he was still having the nightmares, still waking up several times a night, the nightmares having felt so real that he usually needed a few minutes to fully convince himself that it had only been a dream. His counselor, Naomi, had told him vivid nightmares were completely normal for a survivor of a traumatic incident, especially taking into account _what_ he had witnessed. She said the nightmares would start to go away eventually, but had given him medicine to help him sleep in the mean time. So much for that.

He climbed out of bed, his covers a bit damp from his sweating throughout the night, and glanced at the mirror on the back of his closet door. He looked like hell. His hair, which was usually a mess, was now damp on top of looking like a bird's nest, and he had dark bags under his bloodshot eyes. He would definitely need a shower before even attempting to join the world of the living.

He grabbed a set of clothes for the day- Guns & Roses tee, black jeans, and, embarrassingly, a pair of Superman boxers and headed for the door. Unfortunately, however, the second he opened his door he came face to face with his brother, Gabriel, hand already poised to knock.

"Hey, little bro, you-" He paused, suddenly not as energetic and happy, taking in his younger sibling's disheveled appearance and gave him a sympathetic look, though he tried to mask it with a small smile. "sort of look like shit. You okay?"

Castiel pushed past him, heading for the closet that contained the towels, not meeting his brother's eyes. "Yeah, Gabe, just fucking peachy."

Gabe held up both hands in, his mouth open in feigned surprise. "You know, I just came up here to check in on my favorite baby brother and I'm feeling very attacked right now."

Castiel rolled his eyes at his older brother's immaturity, but secretly, he was thankful. At least his brother was still acting like a goofball, if a bit subdued. "I'm getting in the shower. Goodbye, Gabriel."

"Glad to see your empathetic side is still intact!" Gabe called out as Castiel the door shut behind him. Sometimes Castiel seriously wondered if he were adopted, or if Gabriel might just be a member of some kind of extraterrestrial species that his family had found and taken in out of pity. Yeah, either one of those sounded about right.

•○•○•

"So, the transfer kids coming in today?" Dean asked, his mouth full of bagel. He was rummaging through his locker, trying to find his AP Calc homework.

Dean had never really been one for organization, but he was seriously considering asking Sammy for help with sorting out his locker. Between folders and notebooks and textbooks and, last but certainly not least, his comic books, his locker looked like a tornado had come in and devastated it. The only thing even vaguely organized was a magnetic basket hanging on the door, holding all of his writing utensils.

"Today is supposed to be their first day," replied Charlie, his best friend and fellow diehard nerd. She crinkled her nose in disgust at his open mouth and turned her face away from him. "Do you really have to talk with your mouth full? Swallow or shut up."

"But you love me," Dean said with a small smirk directed at her.

She sighed, clearly having given up on the lost cause that was Dean's manners, "Unfortunately."

"So," Dean said, finally swallowing his bite, "What do you think they're going to be like?"

"How should I know?" Charlie asked, "I've never even met any of them. We don't exactly run in the same type of crowds." She raised an eyebrow for emphasis and snatched the bagel from her friend's hand, tearing off a piece.

"Hey!" Dean said, glaring. "Get your own, Red."

"Hey yourself, Deano," Charlie smirked, handing the rest back. "You still owe me for the coffee I brought you yesterday."

"You mean that rocket fuel shit I was forced to ingest was actually _coffee_?" Having, by some wonderful miracle, found his textbook, he slammed the locker shut. A crash sounded from inside, making Dean sigh. Well, guess there went all of his pens and pencils into the rest of the mess.

"Ever think that maybe you ought to do some cleaning in there?" Charlie asked.

"Ever think that maybe you should consider who gives you rides everywhere, Ms. Bradbury?" Dean replied.

"That would be me, Mr. Winchester." said a familiar voice.

Dorothy Baum flashed him a smile before turning her full attention to Charlie, whose face had lit up the instant her girlfriend had arrived. She leaned in and pecked her girlfriend on the lips, thankfully keeping it chaste. Dean loved them both dearly, but the sight of the two of them, his best friends, making out would make him incredibly uncomfortable... and a little nauseous.

Dean scoffed, giving Dorothy a look. "Yeah, right. Then how do you explain me having to pick this one up and take her to the comic book store yesterday?"

"Really? You were probably going to end up there on your own sometime soon anyway," Dorothy said. "I just gave you an opportunity. Besides, one of your geek books must have a new issue out."

"Okay one, they're not geek books, Baum, and two, she's _your_ girlfriend," Dean argued.

"And she's _your_ best friend," the brunette said with a smug smile playing on her lips. "Best friend tromps girlfriend in terms of responsibility. Bros before hoes, or whatever."

"Could you both kindly shut up? It's only 8:00 am and I'm already developing a migraine." Charlie moaned.

Thankfully, before the two of them could continue their argument, the warning bell rang, signaling their need to be in homeroom right about then. They went their separate ways, Dean to his homeroom and the girls to theirs, but Dean could still hear Charlie's mutter something about her 'questionable test in company'.

•○•○•

As far as schools go, Lawrence Junior-Senior High School wasn't exactly the worst he'd ever seen. It was, from what he'd gathered so far, made up of 4 buildings, one containing the gym, another the middle school, and the last two housing classes for the upperclassmen. At St. Michael's, Castiel was used to seeing students from K-12, so this was nothing new to him. He couldn't exactly say he would miss the presence of the younger students, but it might require some time to fully get used to.

His first obstacle came during homeroom in the form of an overly-perky girl named Becky. She was plenty friendly, maybe even a little _too_ friendly, but Castiel couldn't help but want to put his head through the wall listening to her. For the entire walk from homeroom to his first period class, he was forced to listen to her theories on the homoeroticism present between Captain Kirk and Spock. He, personally, agreed with her, because really, the hands on the window scene practically _screamed_ homo, but refused to say so out of fear of her never leaving his side. The last thing he needed, after everything, was a blabbering shadow. When they arrived at the door to his AP Calc class, Castiel bid her goodbye with a forced kind smile, to which she positively beamed, and entered the classroom quickly- so quickly, in fact, that he tumbled into another person who was heading for the door.

"Sorry, man. I didn't see you there." said a gravely baritone voice. Castiel looked up and met a pair of bright green eyes and a shy smile.

Castiel looked the boy in front of him up and down. "It's fine..."

"Dean," Dean said, flushing. "First day?"

"Castiel. And how can you tell?" Castiel asked.

"Well," Dean said with a small chuckle that Castiel couldn't help but smile at. "for one, I've never seen you around before. Ya, know, the whole small school, everyone knows everyone kind of thing, and two, you were just trying to escape Becky Rosen."

"She's not that bad," Castiel said, though it was clear his defense was weak when Dean simply raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Becky wasn't exactly the type of person he wanted to spend time with, let alone be roped into a friendship with. "Okay so maybe she is a bit... obsessive."

Dean opened his mouth to say more, but right at that moment, a rather short man in a dark suit walked in, standing at the front of the class. A few others were still standing, visiting at friend's desks and seemingly unaware of the teacher's presence.

The man cleared his throat, causing students to, with sheepish smiles in the man's direction, return to their desks. He glanced towards the doorway where he and Dean still stood, shooting them a pointed look, and said in an unexpected yet somehow fitting British accent, "Unless you both are planning on leaving us sometime soon, I would suggest taking a seat."

Dean flushed a bit, but nodded and headed for a seat in the back. Castiel followed until about halfway before he realized that, while he had been nothing but nice to him, Dean never really invited him. Instead, he took one of the empty seats in the middle of the classroom. He felt eyes on him from all sides, people curious about one of the kids from that school, and he couldn't help but internally groan. It's not as if he were the only St. Michael's student in the class, in fact, two of them were sat just 2 rows to his right, Raphael and Hannah.

_But you're much more interesting than those two, aren't you?_

But really, it was ridiculous- how could they possibly know already? It was only the first day and he had hardly spoken a word to anyway thus far, only Dean, and he hadn't exactly ran his mouth about it. No, he was just being paranoid. They were simply curious because of where he was from, nothing more. For now, that is.


	2. Thermodynamics? Nah, I Think I'll Study

**Chapter Two – Green Eyes**

When Dean reached the back of the room, apparently alone, as proven by the sight of Castiel sitting in the middle of the room, Charlie and Dorothy shared a sly look. Dean knew that look, hell, he _feared t_hat look. That look never meant anything good for him.

"So," Charlie began innocently, "Who's the new kid?"

Dean groaned, knowing exactly where this was going. Curse him for not being so damn obvious about everything. "Charlie, please just leave it be, okay? Just this once."

"No can do, Dean-o," added Dorothy with a grin. "We made it our New Year's Resolution this year to get you laid, and laid you shall get."

Dean raised an eyebrow at his friends. "You dedicated your New Year's Resolution to my sex life?"

"Doesn't that say a lot, though?" Dorothy asked. Dean simply glared at her, plopping down in the seat behind Charlie.

"Please?" Charlie asked, her voice quiet and her eyes showing nothing but honest concern. "After everything with Lisa-"

"No, we're not talking about that." Dean said, but once he saw the wounded expression on his best friend's face, he caved. "Okay, fine. His name is Castiel, or, well, Cas."

"Cas, huh?" Charlie said, smiling at her friend. "Already giving him a nickname?"

"Shut up," Dean said, smacking her lightly with his notebook as his face flushed.

Dorothy chuckled. "So, when should we be expecting our wedding invites in the mail, Winchester?"

By this point Dean's cheeks were practically glowing with how red they were. He looked down at his desk, muttering, "I hate you both."

They both smiled at him, "Aw, we love you, too." Charlie replied, patting her friend on the head. "Now, we've just gotta get you your man."

Dean just sighed, knowing better than to argue. Instead, his eyes landed on a familiar hair of messy dark hair a few rows over and toward the front. The boy was furiously writing away, although he probably didn't even need to, given it was only his first day. His face was all scrunched-up with concentration, just slightly frustrated and completely adorable.

_ Adorable, D_ean thought, fighting the urge to groan from his dissatisfaction, _Great._

He was so fucking screwed.

•○•○•

Castiel, over the course of his day, had heard many things said about him. It was kind of funny, really, how he could be there for only one day and already have people thinking they had him all figured out. That morning, in English, he'd heard the first rumor about him. Apparently, according to some dark-haired girl, who he later learned was named Alex, sitting a few rows over from him, he had actually been involved in the... incident. Hell, she'd said, maybe he'd helped orchestrate the whole thing and the cops just couldn't prove it.

By fifth period, he actually had to lay his head down on his desk, he was so exhausted. Having heard at least six different variations of the same rumor, he just couldn't deal with it anymore. He'd kind of expected this, considering how it all went down, but this? This was extreme.

Before he knew it, he was being snapped out of it by a familiar baritone. "Hey, Cas- buddy, you okay?"

He lifted his head up, glanced to his side where Dean stood, looking concerned. "Cas?" he asked.

Dean blushed, then looked down at his feet in an attempt to hide it, rubbing the back of his neck in what looked like embarrassment. "I um, well, Castiel is kind of a mouthful, isn't it?"

"I see," Castiel said, considering it. _Cas. _It was much better than Gabriel calling him Cassie, he supposed.

"It's okay if you don't like it, though. Don't just go with it on my account." Dean assured, hurriedly. His blush had darkened to show off his freckles. _Freckles! _Could he get anymore adorable?

"No, no," Castiel said, shaking his head and flashing him a small, r_eal _smile. "It's fine, I- I think I like it."

Dean let out a breath, relief spreading across his handsome face. "Great."

They just continued looking at each other for a moment before they looked away, a blush breaking out on both of their faces.

"Right," Dean cleared his throat, meeting the other boy's gaze hesitantly. "Would you mind if I sat here? I mean, it's totally fine if you're saving the seat for someone, I just, um- I was just wondering."

Cas, while Dean was still mid-sentence, pulled out the chair next to him and gestured toward it with his hand. "Dean, just take the seat."

"Right," he repeated, sitting down with an almost shocked expression on his face, like he couldn't quite believe that Cas had said yes. It made him sad, seeing that look on the face of someone who seemed so kind. Dean fidgeted in his seat some, looking a bit overwhelmed. "Um-"

"So Physics, huh?" Cas asked, trying to distract the other boy, who seemed to be getting more uneasy by the second. He hoped it wasn't because of him. "You must be really smart."

Before Dean could get a single word out, the lesson began. Mr. Devereaux spent the period yammering on about Thermodynamics, while Castiel scribbled down notes as well as try to keep up with what he was actually saying. Dean, however, seemed to be having no trouble at all, only occasionally copying something down. And, yet, despite his lack of note taking, every single time Mr. Devereaux asked a question, Dean had the answer.

Castiel, while he wasn't exactly stupid, could never do any of that. He got good grades because he worked his ass off for them, studying late into the night and throwing himself into his work to get the A's he so desperately wanted. But Dean Winchester, he seemed to be another story entirely.

•○•○•

When Dean came home after school to find his father's boots sitting next to the door, his stomach dropped. It wasn't that he wasn't happy to have his father there, really, he was, but whenever John Winchester came home, there was the potential for trouble.

"Dean?" he heard called from what sounded like the living room, "Is that you, son?"

"Yeah, Dad, it's me." Dean replied, slipping off his boots and setting them next to his father's. He made his way to the living room entry way, leaning around and peering at John, who was settled at the cluttered desk next to the patio door. "Sammy's at debate club, so he should be home by four."

"And who's picking him up?" his father asked, absentmindedly, as he shifted through a file in his hand.

"One of his little nerd friends' mom is supposed to drive him home after." Dean entered the room fully, moving to sit near his father, which just so happened to be on the loveseat.

"Dean, you shouldn't be handing out responsibilities like that to other people." John said, shaking his head and finally looking up from his work, his face conveying his disappointment in Dean. Then again, what else was new. "Sam is _your _responsibility when I'm gone, not the whole damn town's."

"I'm sorry, I just-" Dean tried, but knew it was pointless, so simply trailed off. He just wanted to come home and get started on his homework, to work on the extra work Mr. Devereaux had given him when he had managed to move a full chapter ahead of the rest of the class, hell, maybe he just wanted an hour of just him and Charlie trash-talking to each other over a game of GTA. But he knew none of that would matter to John, so he didn't bother. "I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again."

John nodded, looking pleased. "Good," he said, picking up the file once again, only this time gesturing for Dean to come forward.

Dean made to leave the room and head upstairs, but just before he crossed the threshold, John said, "And Dean?"

"Yes, sir?" Dean replied, trying to think of what else he could have possibly done wrong. He'd kept Sam fed, clothed, and safe, so he wasn't quite sure what else it could be.

"There's a Rugaru problem in Kentucky, so I'll be gone for about a week or two." John told him. He looked at his son seriously, "I don't need to remind you what I need you to do, do I?"

"Look after Sammy," Dean replied automatically, the concept practically drilled into his brain from years of having it said to him. He knew his job, his place in their family. He was to protect Sammy no matter what, from anything that could do him harm.

But, he sometimes wondered, whose job was it to protect him?

•○•○•

Upon arriving home, Castiel was greeted with the sight of his twin bundled up on the couch in a big fleece blanket, her eyes watery and nose red from blowing it. Despite all of this, Anna grinned when she saw him, waving him over.

Castiel sighed, plopping down next to her on the couch, letting his legs drape over his sister's. "I can't believe Michael let you stay home."

"Excuse me?" Anna responded, making a grand gesture toward herself. "Does my snot and zombiness seriously not equate to being sick enough to stay home?"

Castiel shrugged, sinking back into couch cushions with a sigh. "I don't know. I just... today was an interesting day."

"Oh?" Anna asked, her interest peaked. "How do you mean?"

Castiel, much to his sister's surprise, actually began to blush a bit. "I um," he cleared his throat. "I sort of met this guy-"

"A guy?" Anna squealed excitedly, moving over to sit closer to her brother and pinching his cheek. "Oh, my baby brother has a crush!"

"Okay," Cas began, rubbing his cheek where she'd pinched. "One, _ouch. _And two, you're 12 minutes older, get over it."

Anna's grin widened. "You didn't deny the crush though."

He looked down at his hands folded in his lap. "I've only known him a day, Anna. One day does not a crush make."

"Maybe not," Anna conceded. "But you certainly have the potential to form one."

"Okay, enough of that." Cas said, standing up and stretching. "I'm going to go upstairs and... do something else."

As he turned to leave, though, he came face to face with Gabe, who was carrying an armful of snacks. His shoulders seemed to sag at Cas' words, and he lowered his stash onto the coffee table.

"Cassie isn't joining us for Novak family movie night?" he asked, a frown forming. "But it's tradition."

Cas blinked, confused. "Since when?" To the best of Cas' knowledge, the Novak family had never had a family movie night. Hell, he couldn't even remember the last time they had all sat down to do anything together outside of going to Mass.

"God, Cassie," Gabe groaned, settling down on the couch. "Maybe I wanted to start a new tradition. And with everything lately, we could definitely use something new around here."

Cas couldn't exactly argue with him there. Instead, he settled down for a movie marathon with his brother and sister, after, of course, fighting over what to watch and finally deciding on _Poltergeist_.

After about five different movies- Michael joined them by about the third one, once he'd arrived home from class- and consuming way too much junk food to ever be justifiable, Cas finally was let to go upstairs. He showered quickly before crawling into bed for the night, looking up at the ceiling. His mind kept being drawn back to that day and to the bright green eyes of the boy he couldn't stop thinking about. Dean Winchester was really something else. He was smart, kind, and just all around wonderful. This boy he'd only known for one day had already managed to utterly take hold of his thoughts, and he didn't seem to be letting go anytime soon.


	3. cute boys with pretty blue eyes and sexy

**Chapter Three**

Charlie, being her usual pain in the ass self, absolutely _insisted_ on meeting Cas. In her book, which is essentially an odd assortment of rules that she made up on the spot to fit her need at any given moment, Rule #139 clearly stated that _"It is the right of a person's best friend to meet, quiz, and judge any new love interest."_ Which was really pretty damn hilarious, because Dean never had that right with Dorothy. Charlie had just wandered over to his locker like she did every morning, but that time, with her hand on the small of the pretty brunette's back, and introduced her as her girlfriend. No prior warning or right to judge whatsoever.

Also, she had added, after having to listen to Dean gush over Castiel for hours on end on the phone while Dorothy was over and her aunt Hester was out, because come_ on_, how often does a miracle like that come along? She and Dorothy could have been making the time count, but instead she had to listen to Dean pine like a preteen with a crush. Dean, with his cheeks stained deep scarlet, finally relented.

They were on their way to Dean's locker before lunch when it was brought up, prompted by the sight of Castiel gathering his own afternoon books about ten lockers down from him. He looked frustrated, slamming his palm against the metal object when it refused to open. Dean, for a moment, considered going over to help, but he knew Charlie could just use that to her advantage and he refused to be the one to feed the beast.

"We're not even together," Dean argued, although he knew it was pointless. When Charlie had her mind set on something, there is absolutely no stopping her; you could build a wall a mile high around the situation and she'd still find some way to get through it.

But, really, what grounds did he have to think that he may have a chance with Cas? Catching Cas looking in his direction a handful of times during Physics didn't necessarily mean anything. Maybe Dean was just sitting in the way of something he was trying to see, and he looked away when Dean glanced up because he didn't want Dean to assume exactly what he was assuming.

Anyway, who's to even say that Cas liked dudes anyway? He was probably straight. Definitely, unattainable and straight.

"Yet," Charlie corrected, wagging her finger at him. "The key word in that statement should be yet. And I will get the two of you together even if it kills me. Now, go invite that boy to sit with us. I wanna meet my future best-friend-in-law."

"I hate to tell you this, but I don't think that's a thing, Charls." Dean said with a small smirk, but began walking anyway, knowing that fighting with her any longer would just make things worse. Plus, he kind of did want to spend lunch with Cas, even if it was with the company of his nosy best friend and her equally nosy girlfriend.

The aforementioned boy still stood at his locker, which he'd finally, by some stroke of luck, managed to wrangle open, and seemed to be attempting some sort of organizational project. Huh, maybe Cas could help him.

"Good luck, lover boy." Charlie said with a wink while Dorothy, being the fiery little ball of aggression she was, punched him in the shoulder. Charlie and her then turned down the hall toward the cafeteria, Charlie, unsurprisingly, throwing up the Vulcan salute.

Dean took a deep breath before powering forward, approaching the boy from the side and leaning up against the locker next to him with a false self-assured smile. "Hey, Cas."

"Oh," Cas said, sounding surprised. He looked up and met Dean's eyes before he visibly relaxed, smiling at the other boy. He cradled the books he had taken out of his locker in his right arm and rose to his feet. "Hello, Dean."

"So, uh," Dean looked down at his feet, shifting a bit from one foot to the other. This was a regular gesture of his now, he guessed. "My friends were wondering, um, maybe, if you're not sitting with anyone already you'd like to sit with us at lunch."

Cas looked a bit stunned at first, but soon his lips turned up in a half-smirk as something over Dean's shoulder caught his eye. Dean wanted to turn around and see what it was, but he didn't really want to look away from Cas either. "So your friends wanted you to ask me if I wanted to sit with you?"

Dean felt his face beginning to heat up, despite how hard he tried to fight it. Was this just who he was now? The blushing lovesick schoolboy? "And me, ya know. I'd kind of like for you to sit with us."

A moment passed and both were quiet. Dean kept his eyes trained on his shoes, refusing to look up, afraid of what he might see in the other boy's eyes. What if Cas was just now realizing how much of a dork he was, and had decided that he didn't want anything to do with him? What if he saw through to Dean's little crush on him and he thought it was pathetic, or worse, disgusting? God, he was so stupid, putting everything in jeopardy like that.

"Dean," Cas said, breaking through his haze with his worried voice. "Are you okay?"

When he glanced up, he was met with a pair of concerned blue eyes. Cas smiled reassuringly at him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Dean, I'd love to sit with you all. But are you okay?"

"Oh, um, I'm fine," Dean said with a sheepish grin.

Cas studied him silently. "Dean, I would very much like to be your friend, if you would allow me to be. Please don't doubt that."

"Cas," Dean said in a firm voice, his current feelings pushed back into their nice little compartment in the back of his head. "I'm fine. I swear."

Cas still looked a bit hesitant in believing him, but he seemed to, eventually, give into the fact that Dean did not want to talk about it and he would have to respect that. Cas forced a small smile. "So, who are these friends we'll be sitting with?"

Dean simply smiled, leading the other boy to the cafeteria and hoping that either his friends would lay off- which was highly unlikely-, or that Cas had thick skin. To deal with the two of them, especially Dorothy, who literally had no filter at all, a person needed to be able to hold their own. Dean just hoped that Cas was that kind of person.

•○•○•

"So," Dorothy began, a smug smile spreading across her lips as she spoke, though it was directed at Dean. "You're the _famous_ Castiel Novak that Dean hasn't shut up about."

Benny, the bastard, actually chuckled at that, but when his eyes met Dean's across the table, he quickly wiped the smirk off of his face, raising his hands in mock surrender, although his amusement was still evident in his eyes. Jo and Charlie, however, seemed to have no qualms about cracking up at that. The only one who stayed silent throughout all of this was Garth, who simply gave him a sympathetic smile. So basically all but one of his friends were a bunch of traitors. Great.

"Really?" Cas asked, visibly trying to fight back a smirk at the boy next to him as he placed a hand on his own chest dramatically. "Dean, I'm touched."

Dean's face was burning, but he wasn't sure whether it was from anger at Dorothy or embarrassment because of what Cas had to hear from her. Maybe a mixture of both. "Blow me, Baum."

"Dean, you do know the definition of lesbian, correct?" Dorothy asked, the comment only seeming to have served to amuse her.

"Hush, both of you." Jo said, speaking over the both of them and shooting their table guest an apologetic look. "Castiel here probably thinks we're crazy."

Dean gave Dorothy a pointed look, raising his eyebrows as if to say, '_You heard the lady, now shut up_', but it was merely met with an eye roll and some indignant huffing on her end. Better than nothing, he supposed, but still not exactly what he'd been aiming for.

Cas shrugged, flashing them an easy smile. "Nah. Actually, I'm finding all of this quite funny. Are you two always like this?" He asked, gesturing between Dean and Dorothy.

"Pretty much." Dorothy replied, her attention on the plate of fries she was eating. "Captain Ameridork over here tends to bring out my more... aggressive side."

"What? You mean that isn't your factory setting?" Dean asked, shooting her a self-satisfied smirk.

"Quiet, both of you." Charlie said, her face still full of humor but also of embarrassment. "I swear, you both are like ten year-olds."

Here they were with a guest at their lunch table, something that rarely ever happened, except for when Bela Talbot used to sit with them when she was new in Sophomore year before finding her _place_ in the school with the more popular bunch, and they were sitting here bickering in front of him. A real great impression they were leaving on him, she was sure.

"So, Castiel," Charlie turned to Cas, ready to attempt to rectify the damage her friends had caused, but she found that his eyes had seemed to wander to the boy next to him, his expression soft and content and a barely-there smile gracing his handsome face. Dean didn't seem to notice, however, his attention wrapped up in the burger in his hand. He had ketchup on his face and everything, yet Cas looked at him like he was something of wonder. Charlie smiled a bit, going back to her lunch instead, not wanting to break up whatever progress that was being made.


End file.
